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H. R. ABBOTT.

COMPOSITE HEEL.

APPLICATION men JANA-1,15%

1 ,3 1 1 ,545. Patented July 29, 1919.

M i f UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HARRY R. ABBOTT, OF BROCKTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOB T0 BROCKTON HEEL COMPANY, INC. 0]? BROCKION. MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MASSACHU- SETT S.

GOMPOSITE HEEL Application filed January 14, 1919.

To all whom it may (:07H.'t'-'I'Tt.'

Be it known that I, IIARRY R. Anno'r'r, a citizen of the United States, residing at. Brockton, in the county of Plymouth and State of Massachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements in (,lomposite Heels, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to heels for boots and shoes. and resides in the article of manufacture, a heel or heel blank adapted to be made as an independent unit, either in a shoe factory or in a separate establishment, and to he applied as such to a boot or shoe. The purpose of the invention is to furnish as such artiole'of manufacture a composite heel of which the tread part is of rubber and the part which lies next to the shoe is of leather, or other suitable heel material which is more rigid and firm than rubber; the composite structure being a unit ready for at tachment to a boot or shoe and adapted to be time attached by a single set of fasteners, and having provisions by which pressure may be applied directly to the leather part, in the process of attaching it to the shoe, with such force as may be needed to lay the cup of the heel firmly against the heel seat of the shoe without leaving cracks or openings between the edges of the heel and the outer sole of the shoe.

In further explanation of this purpose and of the. useful result accomplished bv the invention, I would state that heretofore in manufacturin shoes having rubber heels it has been t e usual practice to apply to the shoe, first a low leather heel having a less number of lifts (generally two), and.

therefore of materially less height, than the customary full-height heel, and then to place and secure on to of the same a rubber heel body. The leatier and rubber heel bodies thus applied to the same shoe to make the complete heel have always been furnished separately to the shoe healer. that is, the workman employed to attach heels to shoes,

and their attachment has required two heel inn operations: in the first of which the leather heel body is applied to the shoe and SOClll'Gljl by one set of nails, and in the second of which the rubber body is seem-ed by it second set of nails. This requires a double handling of the shoes and the einl'iloyinent of Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 29, note.

Serial No. 271,157.

two operators and two heeling machines to obtain a given output, or of one operator and machine for twice the length of time required for single-healing a lot of shoes, and requires use of substantially tw'icoas many nails as are required for securely attaching a heel, while there is always a ossibility, which occasionally is realized, t at some of the nails driven in the second op eration will strike those driven in the first, and be thereby prevented from being set properly. be furnished as a unit article and to be applied in one operation and secured with one set of nails, resulting in economy of labor, of plant, and of nails, and of thus reducing the cost of the finished product without loss or diminution of any valuable quality.

My improved heel has novel characteristics adapting it to be used as and with the results above indicated, which I will forthwith describe in detail with reference to the drawings attached to this specification, and will particularly point out in the appended claim.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of a con'iposite heel embodying and illustrating the principles of the invention. Fig. 2 is a side view ofthe hcel. Fig. 3 is a cross sevtion on line 3--3 of Fig. l, and Fig. 4 is a frnonwiitory cross section on an enlarged si'nlt showing a modified form of reinforciwhich I propose to employ in the heel when required.

Lilureference characters desi ate the some parts wherever they occur in all the figures.

The drawings show a. complete heel, and by this I mean complete in the sense that it is in condition to be marketed by the makers and to be applied to a shoe, althou h it is not in the final finished form which IS given after it has been a plied to the shoe and trimmed and b-urnis ed. The heel thus defined consists of two main parts, name] a rubber body or tread part a and a more no and rigid part 6 made of leather, leatherbourd. or any other material suitable for nmhiupv heels, including wood for example: When made of leather or leutherbonrd, the heel body 6 is built up oflifts, and I have here shown it. as made of two lifts b and b? the form r of which is mad of leather d the My composite heel is intended to other of leatherboard, and on the latter is )lElGOtl a. rand (r. The side of the leather ody away from the rubber body is made concave, either by compression or by cutting away part of the stock, or otherwise, thereby forming, the so called cup. with which all heels are provided in varying degrees of depth and concavity to fit the convex heel seats of the particular shoes to which they are designed to be applied.

The. feature to which I direct particular attention in the heel thus shown is the ledge or shoulder or lip d projecting on all sides from the rubber body and formed by making the top surface of the leather part of greater dimensions in all directions than. the rubber part, and placing the rubber part in assembling in a central location upon this surface. This ledge or lip is a feature of great advantage in that it furnishes a firm and substantially incompressible area for application of severe pressure in the process of applying the heel to a shoe, whereby the leather body is pressed closely againstthe heel seat, and in particular the edges of this body are brought against the outer sole, and cracks which ale liable to occur between the (amtiguous edges of the outer sole and the heel are wholly or in large measure closed. Such ledge serves as a means forming a part i of the heel by which pressure having a permanent effect as above described may be applied during the heeling process. Such an effect can not be secured by pressure applied against the tread face of the rubber bocb, for pressure thus applied has the effect of compressing and distorting the rubber without being transmitted in the required measure to the leather part. Preferably the Sides of the leather part are tapered inwardly from the edges of the flange to the seating surface to aid in securing the desired close contact between the edges thereof and the outer sole.

' After the heel has been applied to the shoe this ledge will generally be removed by shaving and trimming in the usual manner to give the finished heel the form and appearance desired by the purchaser of the shoe. On this account 1 Wish to make it plainly understood that the article which I claim herein is primarily a heel or heel blank in the condition in which it is produeed preparatory to being applied to a shoe, and is not to be confused with a heel as found in the shoe when completed and ready to Wear.

The part which I have hereinbefore called the rubber part or body may be made of any composition and by any manner and means suitable for making the so called rub-- herheels already Well linown to the art. I would have it understood, therefore, that the use of the term rubber" in the fore going description and in the following claim is without limiting effect, and that I include within the definition of the term rubber any material or composition, whether containing caoutchouc or not which has the softness, resilience. and other qualities considered to be desirable in the so called rubher or fiber heels.

As shown in Figs. 2 and 3 the rubber body has embedded within its substance well back from the tread surface 0, perforated annular "einforcing pieces f provided to admit the attaching nails and to bear against the heads of such nails as usual in rubber heels. In Fig. 4 I have shown a modified form of reinforce f constructed to transmit in a rigid and unyielding manner stresses between the head of the attaching nail and the leather part of the heel. This modified construction possesses a flange f embedded deeply enough Within the mass of the rubber body to prevent its being torn out by the forces acting in ordinary wear, and a tubular shank which extends toward and substantially in contact with the leather part, being separated from the latter only by a thin film of the rubber composition which is thick enough only to cover the end of the reinforce and not to allow any appreciable play between the reinforce and the leather part. If desired the reinforce may extend quite to the surface of the rubber body without any covering film. It is provided with a ii 3 at the end next to the leather part in or er to distribute its pressure on the latter without penetration.

The leather and rubber parts are united in the course of manufacture by adhesive spread over their contacting surfaces, or by any other means suitable to secure them one to another as a unit. While the connection between the leather .and rubber parts is, as stated in the claim appended hereto, a per-- mancut one. it will be understood that it is not necessary that it be as strong as is required in the finished shoe. It is merely necessary that the parts be united firmly enough to hold together until the heel is applied to a shoe.

I wish to emphasize that nothin is to be implied in a limiting sense from t e use in the foregoing specification of the terms rubber and leather. As before stated I include within the definition of rubber" any material having the qualities considered 'desirable in so called rubber heels, and within the definition of the term leather, any other material suitable for making shoe heels and having substantially greater firmness and rigidity than the material thus defined as rubber.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

A composite heel blank comprising a relatively incompressible portion, having its upper surface of the area and shape of the finished heel seat, and gradually increasing 'in width from its upper to its lower face,

united to the lower fwce of said ineompressible portion, and having both faces of substantially the same peripheral cont-our and of less area than the lower face of the inoomprosslble portlon.

In fvstnnony whereof I have :ifixxed my signature.

HARRY R. ABB T 

